Chapter 5

FOREST AND FORESTRY

5.1. Concept of Forest and Forestry
Forest is a continuous growth of trees and undergrowth covering on large area of
land.
Forestry is a science of developing and managing forests including cultivating them.
According to the FAO, Global forest resources assessment (2000) report, forests
cover almost 1/3 of the world land or 3869 million hectors. 95% is natural forest and
5% is planted forest.

There are three types of Forests namely:

1. Natural forests- forest which grow through the natural means of seed
dispersal.
2. Semi-natural forests- Cultivated forests which are in the process of recovering
from the interference of man.
E.g. re-afforestation-re-establishment of trees on formerly deforested land
due to the human interference such as bush fire, clearing and overgrazing.
3. Planted Forest/ Cultivated forest- forest which have been planted by man.
E.g. Afforestation-Planting trees on formerly bare surfaces/plains.
Planted Forests may be Exotic forests or Indigenous forests.
 Exotic forests- Cultivated forest consisting plants which have been
imported from foreigners and introduced to a place.
 Indigenous forests- Cultivated Forest consisting native plants to that
region.
The local forests must be preserved as below:
 Creation of forest reserve to protect indigenous forests from
extinction.
 Setting of forest guard to protect forests against illegal lodging.
 Afforestation and Re-afforestation to cover plants on bare plains.
 Application of Agroforestry ( intercropping of various crops with
trees) to:
 Supply woods processed to made furniture, papers and
building materials.
 Provide animal fodder
 Provide food like fruits
 Act as wind breaker
 Shade for crops.

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5.2 Factors Affecting Distribution of Natural Forest
Many factors affecting distribution of global natural forests and they are as below.

1) Temperature.
High temperature causes fast grow of trees. The low temperature causes slow
plant growth because if it falls below 6˚C then plant ceases growth. This is
because soil become frozen where plant roots unable to uptake water and
dissolved minerals salts from soil.
Example
- Rainforests at low latitudes grow very well, become tall and close together
because these experience hottest temperatures.
- Coniferous forests at high latitudes grow slow, become short and scattered
because these experience coldest temperatures.
2) Aspect.
- Dense forests are found on the windward slopes of mountains because they
are wetter than leeward slopes.
- In temperate regions, the slopes facing equator have dense forests because
they are warmer than those facing poles.
- Slope facing poles experiences Coniferous forests which are adapted to low
temperatures.
3) Precipitation.
There are dense forest where there is heavy precipitation while there is less
forests cover consisting of stunted trees in areas with little precipitation.
4) Soil.
- Fertile deep soils support huge trees which are deep rooted such as
those in tropical regions.
- Poor and infertile soils support stunned trees.
- Shallow soils also support Coniferous trees which have shallow and wide
spread shallow rooted to be able to utilize water on the top soil.
5) Human Activities.
 Deforestation- man has cleared to create settlements and fields for
agriculture through shift cultivation using bush fire and clearing which
reduced forest cover on earth’s surface.
 Soil erosion. Economic activities done by people such as pastoral
farming where livestock keeping leads to overgrazing that in turn
causes soil erosion.
Fauna and Flora are classified as below.
 Flora- plants live on their natural habitat. Wide variety of flora in the
forests include plants which have economical, medical and traditional
value. Some plants provide food for the people.
 Fauna-Animals live and bread on their natural habitats. Many plants are
found in the forests. Animals are sources of food such meat
Endangered species of fauna are rare ones such as Rhino, Hippos and
Elephants, Lions, tigers, Ostriches etc.

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Benefits of endangered animals are as below.
I. Some endangered species of animals attract tourist to earn:
- Income for the country
- Employment opportunities for the country
- Foreign exchange for the country
II. Some rare animals enhance biodiversity and ecological balance within the
environment.
[Link] endangered species of animals such as lions and tigers have beautifull
skins which export to other countries.
IV. Some rare animals are hunt by man forsake of their ivories such as Elephants.
V. Some rare species of animals are hunt by man to get their feathers such as
Ostrich
Endangered Species are preserved through the following ways:
1) Endangered species of animals must be kept in the zoo, national parks and
Game sanctuary.
2) Legislations against hunting of endangered species of animals. Illegal hunting
of rare animals must be banned.
3) Social awareness through the media on the importance of protecting rare
animals.
4) Developing tourism sector to show benefits of endangered animals for the
people.

5.3 Importance of Forests and Forest Products

1) Forests provide us wood fuel. E.g. Firewood and charcoal
2) Forests prevent soil erosion where plant roots bind the soil particles
together and reducing runoff to avoid flooding and dam siltation.
3) Forests are habitats of wild animals which are tourist attractions to get
income, employment and external exchange.
4) Forests use carbon dioxide in photosynthesis process and release oxygen to
purify the air and reduce global warming.
5) Forests increase soil fertility when leaves fall and rot forming humus.
6) Forests change climate of an area causing heavy and frequent rainfalls
through evapo-transpiration and reducing temperature.
7) Forests are sources of timber for construction and furniture making.

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 8) Forests beauty the environment
9) Some plants in the forests are sources of medicine.
10) Forests are sources of employment for many people such as Forest guards,
Forest officers, Lumberjacks, Carpenters and Timber merchants.
11) Forests are sources of food e.g. Fruits, Honey and Mushrooms.
12) Forests provide soft woods used for manufacture of papers and ply woods.
13) Animals in the forests are hunted for food, skin and horns.
14) Leaves of trees and forest undergrowth are used as livestock fodder.
5.4 Problems Facing Forests
I. Encroachment of people. People scramble the forested land to create
settlements or agriculture
II. Uprooting of young trees by Herbivorous wild animals such as Elephants due to
their rapid increase.
[Link] caused by bush fires ignited by poachers and honey harvesters
during dry season.
IV. Pests and diseases outbreak destruct huge number of plant species.
V. Overexploitation of forests by man. E.g. cutting for timber without
replacements.
VI. Droughts destruct large number of trees where plants die due to lack of water.
VII. Illegal lodging which unlicensed people cut and exploit forests.
VIII. Poor management of forests such as harvesting immature trees.

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 Chapter 6
MINERALS AND MINING
6.1 Definition of the Terms Minerals and Mining
Minerals are inorganic substances occurring naturally at the earth’s surface or
below.

Mining is a process of extracting valuable minerals from the ground.

Most minerals extracted from the earth required for human body, plants and animals
as essential nutrients such as iron, sodium, calcium, potassium and zinc.

Minerals in Somalia, include Oil reserve, natural gas, uranium, iron, Gypsum and salt.

Minerals have different:

1) chemical compositions
2) structures
3) hardness
4) colours

Characteristics of minerals
1) Minerals have different degrees of hardness. Some are very hard e.g. Diamond
and others are too soft e.g. salt
2) Some minerals have atoms with definitely arranged structures (crystals).
3) Some minerals consisting one element e.g. Gold (Av) while others contain
more e.g. Quartz has 2 (SiO2).
4) Minerals have different abilities of allowing light to pass through. E.g. some are
transparent, others are Opaque and some are Translucent.
5) Minerals have different colours. Gold is shiny yellow while Copper is brown.
6) Minerals have different densities. Some are very heavy e.g. Iron and Lead
while others are light. E.g. Quartz
7) Some minerals conduct electricity while others don’t. E.g. Copper conducts
electricity and Diamond doesn’t.
8) Some minerals can be pressed into different shapes. E.g. copper but not in
Salts.
6.2. Types of Minerals
Minerals are three types namely:
I. Metallic Minerals
II. Non-metallic minerals
[Link] minerals
Metallic Minerals are:
1) Ferrous metals- Hard minerals of iron. These are Limonite, Magnetite, Siderite
and Haematite.

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Importance of Iron
 Iron is used for manufacture of steel which is used for construction
 Iron is used for construction of bridges
 Iron is used for cutting
 It is used for making sharped tools like Axe, knife and dagger.
2) Non-Ferrous Metals-Soft metals like Copper, Aluminium, Gold, Lead, Zinc, etc.
Non-Metallic Minerals-These are graphite, Diamond, Asbestos, Sodium, Calcium,
Carbon, Potassium.
Importances of each non-metallic minerals
1) Graphite is used as below.
- Used for making pencils
- Used for making solar panels.
- Used for making electronic products like electrodes, batteries etc
2) Diamond is expensive hard mineral used to cut metals
3) Asbestos is used for making fireproof clothes, laboratory equipments, plastics
and also gaskets.
4) Calcium is essentially required mineral for human body that strengthened
bones and from some foods like milk.
5) Carbon is an element required by plants during photosynthesis process to
provide food for the plant.
6) Potassium is a mineral used for making fertilizers for crop production.
7) Sodium chloride is used for adding food for sour.
Energy Minerals- These are fossil fuels including Petroleum (crude Oil), Uranium,
Coal and Natural gas.
Fossil fuels have following uses.
- Fossil fuels are used to produce energy to:
 Run machines
 Produce light
 Run house appliances
 Pump water from underground
Whether mineral is mined or not depends on:
 Percentage of metallic content in ore
 Easy of mining
 Price of mineral
 Demand of mineral
 Size of deposits
 Quality of ore
 Capital and technology

6.3 Factors Affecting the Occurrence of Minerals

1) Veins. Minerals are said to occur in veins if they deposit in cracks or faults and
crevices in the crust in small quantities.
2) Lodes. Minerals are said to occur in lodes if they locate in faults, cracks and
crevices in the crust in large quantities.

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 3) Reefs. Minerals are said to occur in reefs when veins and lodes exposed on
the surface by long term denudations.
4) Seams. Occurrence of minerals as sedimentary or as a result of compression
of organic or inorganic material. E.g. Coal and Halite
5) Alluvial Deposits. Occurrence of minerals mixing with other materials such as
sand or gravel.
6) Oil wells. Occurrence of petroleum and natural gas in oil wells in sedimentary
rocks.

6.4 Methods of Mining Minerals

There are three methods of mining and they are as below.

1) Open Cast mining.

Method of extracting minerals which are near the earth’s surface. It involves
removing of unwanted cover crustal materials to extract the next mineral deposits.

2) Underground mining. Method of extracting minerals which are deep below

the surface.
It may be several types namely:
a) Shaft mining.

-This method involves mining of mineral bearing rocks

-It is carried out as below.

 Vertical shafts are sunk into the earth’s crust to reach the layer with
minerals.
 Horizontal tunnels are dug from the vertical shaft to reach minerals.
 Mineral deposits are transported by conveyer belts to bottom of shaft.
 It is then brought to surface by crane
b) Oil drilling

-This method involves exploitation of oil and natural gas.

- It is carried out:

 Oil wells are drilled

 Oil and natural gas are brought to surface by pumping.
c) Solution
- This method is used in mining of soluble minerals such as salt, Potash, Sulphur
- It is carried out as:
 Superheated water is pour into salt deposits.
 Mineral dissolves
 Then solution is pumped into surface
3) Alluvial mining.

This method is used to extract minerals occurring in alluvial deposits.e.g. Gold,

tin, diamond.

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6.5 Significance of Mining to any Country
I. Countries earn foreign exchange and revenue from the exportation of minerals.
II. Mining of mineral is a source of employment to people.
III. Mining has led to development of industries by providing raw materials.
IV. Mining has led to development of transport and communication lines to make
mining areas accessible and communicable.
V. Mining of minerals has led to development of settlement. Many people who are
jobseekers are crowding together where mining activities are exist. Markets,
social services are offered to people working in mines.
VI. Mining improves technology and skilled manpower for the countries.
Modern equipments of high technologies are applied for the mining where labors
are training for their application.
6.6. Distribution of Minerals in Somalia
Somalia has more deposits of unexploited resources of uranium in arid areas near EL-
BOUR. Other unmined resources in Somalia include iron, Tin, Copper, Bauxite,
Quartz, gold, Limestone, salt, Gypsum, Oil and Natural gas.
 Gold is distributed in many regions of Somalia mainly at the Golis range and its
windward base where small uncontrolled mining is done by civilian people.
 British administrator explored and mined in small quantities of gold in some
places at Golis range like Maja-yahan
 Small quantity of Gypsum in El-bour are mined
 Small quantity of salt is mined from the ocean and sea Such as Hafun Salt
Factory made by Italian administrator during colonial period.

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